Instant Pot Crispy Carnitas

This Instant Pot Carnitas recipe is quick and easy to make in the pressure cooker, perfectly crispy and juicy, and so delicious!

This Instant Pot carnitas recipe is a game-changer. ♡

After years and years of making my go-to crispy pork carnitas recipe in the slow cooker — letting the pork slowly and steadily simmer all day long until it is perfectly tender and shred-able — I’ve now become a total convert to making pressure cooker carnitas instead.

Why? Well mainly, this Instant Pot carnitas recipe is just crazy fast. Instead of having to plan 5-8 hours in advance to make carnitas in the slow cooker, this pressure cooker carnitas recipe can be ready to go from start to finish in just over 1 hour, making this recipe legit do-able on a weeknight or anytime you’re craving some carnitas stat. It also succeeds in making carnitas that are extra-juicy and crispy, thanks to a quick broil in the oven and a toss in those leftover cooking juices after the Instant Pot has worked its magic. It’s also seasoned with a zesty garlic-citrus mojo sauce, making each bite of pork extra flavorful even before any extra salsas or toppings are added. But more than anything, I just love this carnitas recipe because it is irresistibly, unfailingly, crowd-pleasingly, gotta-go-back-for-seconds-(and-thirds)-ingly, deliciously GOOD.

Bonus — it’s also good served up so many ways! These carnitas are, of course, absolutely fabulous served up in tortillas as carnitas tacos. But if you’re looking for a different spin on carnitas (especially if you have leftovers and want to mix things up a bit for the second round), these carnitas are also delicious served up in burritos, burrito bowls, quesadillas, enchiladas, tostadas, salads, or even in carnitas soup as well.

So if you are a fellow fan of carnitas, pull out your pressure cooker and let’s make a batch together!

Instant Pot Carnitas | 1-Minute Video

Carnitas Ingredients:

To make pork carnitas in the Instant Pot(affiliate link), you will need the following ingredients:

How To Make Carnitas:

To make this pork carnitas recipe, simply…

Make the mojo sauce. Whisk together those garlicky citrus sauce ingredients until combined.

Season and sear the pork. Generously season the pork chunks with salt and pepper. Then use the “Sauté” function on the Instant Pot to briefly sear the pork on all sides in a bit of oil. You might need to do this in two batches, depending on the size of your Instant Pot.

Pressure cook. Add the sauce to the pork, then pressure cook on high for 30 minutes, followed by a natural release.

Shred. Once the pork is cooked, go ahead and give it a good shred with two forks.

(Optional) Broil. Then — if you want the carnitas to be nice and crispy — spread the shredded pork out in an even layer on a large baking sheet, and spoon about 1/3 of the remaining juices from the Instant Pot evenly on top of the pork. Pop the baking sheet into the oven for about 4-5 minutes, or until the edges of the pork are golden and crispy. Then remove from the oven, give the pork a good toss with half of the remaining juices, and broil for 4-5 more minutes. Remove from the oven, toss with the remaining juices and…

Instructions

To Make The Instant Pot Crispy Carnitas:

In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the mojo sauce ingredients until combined. Set aside until ready to use.

Season pork chunks on all sides with salt and pepper.

Click the “Sauté” setting on the Instant Pot. Add the oil, followed by half of the pork, and sear — turning every 45-60 seconds or so — until the pork is browned on all sides. Transfer pork to a separate clean plate, and repeat with the remaining pork, searing until it has browned on all sides. Press “Cancel” to turn off the heat.

Pour in the mojo sauce, and toss briefly to combine with the pork. Close lid securely and set vent to “Sealing”.

Cook on high pressure for 30 minutes, followed by a natural release (about 15 minutes).

Set the oven broiler to high heat.

Remove the lid of the Instant Pot. Shred the pork with two forks. Then transfer it with a slotted spoon to a large baking sheet. Spoon about a third of the leftover juices evenly on top of the pork and toss to combine. Broil for 4-5 minutes, or until the edges of the pork begin browning and crisping up. Remove the baking sheet from the oven, then half of the remaining juices from the Instant Pot evenly over the pork and toss to combine. Broil for an additional 5 minutes to get the meat even more crispy. Remove baking sheet from the oven, then ladle the remaining juices over the pork, and toss to combine.

Sprinkle with chopped fresh cilantro, then serve warm in tacos, burritos, salads, or whatever sounds good to you! Or, refrigerate pork in a sealed container for up to 3 days, or freeze for up to 3 months.

Notes

Pineapple Salsa: To make the fresh pineapple salsa recipe, just mix together the follow ingredients until combined:

I’ve been a huge fan of your carnitas recipes and got my instant pot for Christmas. My boyfriend and I agreed to make tacos one night, but he texted me in a panic that I didnt take the meat out of the freezer and get the crockpot going! I feel like the crockpot is super easy, but having dinner that was DELICIOUS and taken straight from the freezer to the IP was even easier. I sort of threw together a similar mojo style carnitas but thanks for all your great recipes!

I am so happy to see instant pot recipe on your site! I’ve been waiting for it! I just got my pot last week and made chilli! I know it may be a lot of work but I think it would be great if you converted some of your fav recipes to instant pot. It really helps to see how long to put things, which settings, sauté first or not, natural/quick release etc! I’m going to try to make your slow cooker tortilla soup this weekend…adapt yours to someone else’s IP recipe! Keep them coming! Thanks.

Thanks so much for this recipe. I think it will be the first one I make in my InstaPot. I, too, asked for one for my birthday FOUR MONTHS ago and it has sat without being used once! :( So please, please, post lots of pressure cooker recipes because I need help getting into my new appliance!

If your meat is dry in the slow cooker, you probably need four to eight ounces more of liquid in the crock pot and you should turn the meat at least once during cooking. I use mine all the time and have never had dry meat.

Hey Ali! How did you know I’m going to cook some carnitas this week? Seriously, they’re on the menu for Thursday. My usual recipe doesn’t have lime, only OJ along with onion, cumin and Jalapeño. I’m going to swap it out for your mojo sauce, because who can resist trying a new recipe for carnitas?

Congratulations on joining the movement. Do you have plans to add Instant Pot timing to those slow cooker recipes? Pretty please?

For your readers cooking for 2 who don’t want a freezer full of leftovers, I’ve found that an inexpensive 1-lb pork blade steak is just perfect. It’s cut from the shoulder, just like pork butt. It’s thinner than pork roast, about 1 inch, but after trimming the meat from the bone, you’ll have the perfect amount of meat for 2, with enough left for someone’s lunch. Because it’s thinner, cook time is 25 minutes with a 10-minute natural release.

I too got the instant pot during that black friday special and was a little skeptical at first but have quickly fallen in love with it. These carnitas look yummy, I’m going to have to try this soon. Please add a special section of instant pot recipes to your blog, I’m constantly searching for new and delicious instant pot recipes.

I think this recipe will be wonderful and I am excited to try it. I don’t have an Instant Pot, so I had to guess what the directions would be without one. I would think that you have many readers without an Instant Pot and we all would have the same problem of how to prepare this recipe without proper directions. Would it be possible to include both sets of dierctions when you share an Instant Pot recipe?

I have made this in my crock pot by browning the meat on the sauté feature, then dumping the mojo sauce in and cooking on high for 5 to 6 hours turning the meat once, then following the rest of this recipe. You could also cook on low for 6 to 8 hours. It turns out wonderfully and makes the house smell amazing.

I am in the process of making this right now and after 30 minutes at High Pressure and doing 15 minutes of Natural Release, it wasn’t cooked enough to shred. After reading a few other recipes with double the cooking time, I have put it back into the pressure cooker for 30 more minutes. Hope it’s done by then – but it smells great!

Wonderful! I used pineapple juice because I didn’t have orange juice and tossed some of the crushed pineapple into the mojo sauce! My tough “pork roast” came out perfect! We basted and broiled twice like the instructions indicate and i think this is key to crisping them up and decreasing the liquid! I added a cup of diced mangos to my pineapple salsa (only because the one jalapeno I seeded and diced was SOOOO hot). It all came out delicious and was the first time my family finished a whole pork roast in one meal. I will definitely make this again, thank you for sharing! I only recently got my IP and cannot wait to try more of these recipes!

oh-em-gee. These are incredible! I made another IP carnitas recipe that I thought no one could top, but then I defrosted the other half of the pork shoulder roast I had and gave these a go. I can’t stop thinking about them! The mojo sauce is amazing…I don’t keep beer in my house because I’m more of a wine/hard liquor girl, so I ended up grabbing a 16oz beer (Shock Top) from the local liquor store and doubled the sauce recipe. I also went uber fancy with the OJ and bought the expensive store-squeezed stuff at my local Wegmans. When you crisp these up in the broiler, they are the stuff of dreams. The other recipe was booted and this is now my go-to carnitas recipe! The pineapple salsa is also a must-try! Looking forward to building a rice bowl with these for dinner tonight :)

These are SO. GOOD. I had to come back and let you know how much this recipe is appreciated. I’ve already talked two other people into making it, and my SO’s coworkers started asking for the recipe since he was raving about these carnitas so much. I’ve found a lot of pressure cooker recipes to be bland, and this is a *perfect* blend of flavors. Crisping them with the juice is clutch.Thanks again for this fabulous recipe. It’s definitely an entry into my go-to recipes file.

The mojo sauce is DELICIOUS!Question, my pork turned out pretty dry. I cooked as instructed, but left it on “keep warm” for almost 2 hrs before opening the pot, could this have been the culprit? Side note, I reduced the sauce left after removing the pork and the pork chunks left floating in that sauce after simmering forever, were delicious, so I’m wondering if I should have cooked it longer.?! Thank you for any insight.

Hi! This looks so good! I have a brand new instant pot and am wanting to try it with the pork loin I have in the fridge. I’m wondering if your recipe is calling for a pork shoulder roast or a pork loin roast, which is much leaner. I would hate to use my pork loin roast in the fridge and have it turn out really dry. Typically, pork loin doesn’t shred so easily, or if it does, it’s quite dry. Help me from messing up your recipe! ;)

This recipe is the reason that I love the Instant Pot so much. It’s my “go to” favorite! I can’t add anything that would make this recipe any better! It does take a bit longer to make than the recipe says, but it’s worth the wait!

Outstanding recipe, my family loves it. I use pork shoulder ribs and they come out absolutely amazing. I crisp the edges as recommended but donit three times. Definitely one of my consistent “go-to” recipes.

I made the carnitas my second time using my new Instant Pot. They came out moist and shredded easily. It seemed like the mojo juice at the end cancelled out any crisping from the broiling, so I might add less juice next time. Overall, it was good!

This recipe is pretty good! Very tender and crispy enough for a carnitas recipe without lard. I’m going to make a few tweaks next time- I used beer, but next time I’m going for the chicken broth because I didn’t feel my meat was salty enough. In addition I would finely grind some smoked salt over the pan during the broiling process. I’m also going to juice a whole lime over the meat during the broiling process too. I just love extra lime in my tacos. With those changes I’m sure I’ll make this again!Thank you for the recipe!

These were amazing! thank you so much for the wonderful recipe! We weren’t able to make the pineapple salsa, but topped our tacos with cheese and hot sauce and cilantro, superb! Even the kids loved them (ages 8 and 1).